Hi - I'm brand new and following the site advice to read, read, read before I start monkeying around with my CR's, but I can't resist this one question before I post my report info and beg for help, so here goes... Apparently, NCO/Medclear bought an old medical bill of mine (I don't know how old, or even what it was for; It's coded Med1 02 & TU lists it as 'due to be removed 10/08' if that helps). Here's the problem(s): NCO has hard inquiries on my reports. It is listed as an open account on the 2 reports I was able to pull, TU & Equifax, as a Factoring Company Account, and it appears like a CC or a loan. It's all over my TU - in the closed accounts section, the other accounts section, the account info section, the accounts past due, and the neg account history section as well as the collections section. My question is, I have 5 other medical bills that have gone to collections over the past 10 years, and they appear as collections in the collections section, and I can see they've been looking at my report, but as account reviews - so can NCO do this? These 6 med bills are the only negatives I have to take care of (of course, I have NO positives yet) and this NCO thing looks like it's doing the most damage. I've been reading about hard inquiries and it seems split as to whether I can do anything about it. Am I correct that the CRA's won't/don't deal with Inquiry disputes and that I'd have to request a PP from NCO? Can the CA's misuse the PP definition and get away with doing this? Last - my research on NCO has me a little afraid to mess with them. I know they are aggresive, unethical, and have been sued quite a bit in PA (my former residence, I'm now in MD). My original plan was validation letters to all since I don't even know which are legit, (except one that is recent which I'll pay) and possibly a PP to NCO, but might it be better to just hope it's removed next year? I'm afraid that by instigating, they'll do more HI's. Anyone have any success against these guys or with hard inquiries, or CA reporting as open accounts? This is a great site and I'm learning a lot after 10 years of hiding my head in the sand. Thanks in advance and sorry this is so long.
